1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of read/write heads for use in mass storage devices for digital data processing systems, and more particularly to such heads manufactured by thin film techniques. The invention provides a new thin film head which incorporates a solenoidal energizing coil, and a method of fabricating the new head.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical modern digital data processing system comprises a hierarchy of memory devices, including a semiconductor main memory of relatively small capacity, and one or more mass storage devices, which have much greater capacity than the main memory, but which are also relatively much slower. The mass storage devices provide a back-up store for data which is in the main memory, and also for the voluminous amounts of data which will not fit into main memory but which can be called upon by the processor when it is needed. A processor typically only obtains information directly from the main memory, and so, when it needs information which is only in a mass storage device, it enables the mass storage device to copy the information to the main memory. Some time later, after it has processed the information, the processor enables the processed information to be stored in the mass storage device. This frees up storage in the main memory so that other information may be stored there.
Typical mass storage devices store information on magnetic disks, the information being recorded in the form of transitions in magnetic flux in the magnetic media generated by a read/write head. The information is organized into a plurality of tracks, each a selected radial distance from the center of the disk, and each track is divided into a plurality of sectors, with each sector subtending a predetermined angular portion of the disk. The read/write head is suspended from an arm, which is moved generally radially over the disk surface in a "seek" operation to bring the read/write head into registration with a selected disk track. The disk is rotated in a "search" operation to bring the sector containing the desired information into angular registration with the read/write head, which reads the information contained in the sector, or writes information on the magnetic medium in the sector.
Originally, read/write heads were generally toroidal in shape with a cut or gap, with the ends of the toroid at the gap being pole pieces. A wire coil was wound around the toroid and is energized to generate magnetic flux. The flux diverges between the pole pieces and impinges on the magnetic material of the disk. The density with which data may be written is directly related to the number of flux transitions, or changes in flux direction, which the heads may provide per unit of time. Since these heads have a relatively high electrical inductance, to achieve a satisfactory rate of flux transitions, expensive driving circuitry is required. Furthermore, the high inductance results in increased "ringing", in which a signal, at a sharp transition, tends to fluctuate about the desired signal level. Too much ringing leads to uncertainty in the signal level for too long a time, which requires slowing down the system.
More recently, thin film read/write heads have been developed which have much lower inductance than conventional read/write heads. Thin film read/write heads are fabricated by means of lithographic techniques that are generally similar to the techniques that are used in making integrated circuit chips. In such techniques, a planar pole piece is first formed and covered with an insulating material. A coil is then formed on the insulating material in the shape of a planar spiral over part of the pole piece, an insulating material is deposited over the spiral, and another pole piece is formed on top of the insulating material.
However, because the coil of a typical thin film read/write head has a planar spiral shape, a relatively long conductor is required to provide the number of turns in the coil that is required to generate the desired magnetic field during the write operation, or to intercept the magnetic field sensed by the head during a read operation. Since, in a planar spiral, the length of the conductor increases faster than the number of turns, the long spiral conductor results in a relatively large resistance, which, in turn, results in generation of a significant amount of heat. The increase in the resistance of the coil also results in a concomitant increase in the noise of the signal during the reading operation.
Furthermore, when the coil has a spiral shape, the mutual inductance between turns also increases faster than the number of turns, and so a planar coil having a sufficient number of turns also has a relatively high inductance. The high inductance results in a relatively low effective resonant frequency, which, in turn, increases the amount of undesirable ringing that can occur in a signal applied to the coil. In addition, since the coil has a relatively high inductance, a high driving voltage is required during a write operation to provide the necessary write current.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,662,119, entitled Thin Film Magnetic Transducer Head, issued May 9, 1972, to L. Romankiw, et al., discloses a thin film head having a solenoidal coil formed around both pole pieces in the head to provide both a supply and a return path for electrical current which energizes the coil. The coil is formed in one layer around each pole piece using a complex fabrication method. Since coil layers are required around both pole pieces, the coil is not suitable for use in connection with vertical recording techniques now being developed, in which data is recorded vertically rather than horizontally on a disk surface.